Alex is back!

[Superhuskies]

see you guys in San Antonio next April

Riverwalk's nice.....

 

[shizzle787]

Doomed!

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

The only question left now.....is who replaces Cam as Karaban's road roommate?!

 

[upstater]

Diarra has to play more than 15.

Why?

I see Ball and Mahaney as bigger factors, and with Karaban being able to handle the ball and run offense, we'll see 10 minutes each game with no Nowell and Diarra out there. You can run offense with Mahaney, Ball and Karaban.

 

[ec33]

You probably meant to say ”men’s college basketball history.” The UConn women‘s team in the Breanna Stewart era won four consecutive titles. So many on our women’s team have won 3 and 4 titles.

I wish for Alex to join that list!

There was no need to say it.

 

[Giddyup5]

I’d also like to see more small ball line up 2-3 minutes a half. Steals 5-6 min a game from the centers to the guards/wings.

Diarra/Mahaney, Ball, McNeeley, Stew, AK.

Talk about a kill line up for short stretches.

 

[ec33]

Tourney Rotation:

Diarra 25 / Nowell 10 / Mahaney 5
Mahaney 25 / Ball 15
McNeeley 25 / Stew 10 / Ball 5
Karaban 30 / Stew 10
Reed 20 / Johnson 20

30: Mahaney / Karaban
25: Diarra / McNeeley
20: Ball / Stew / Reed / Johnson
10: Nowell

Bench: Ross / Abraham / Singare

Too bad it would be illegal to have McNeeley, Stewart, and Karaban on the floor at the same time.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Late to the party, but I have been hoping with no hope, for this decision! Really thought he was gone.

 

[nomar]

This is awesome.

I'm not surprised (I was optimistic, perhaps irrationally so) but I am thrilled.

 

[AllHusky]

Never been SO happy to be SO WRONG!!!

Same here. Never thought for a minute he’d be back.

 

[Bomber36]

I just did a little jig. Watch out here we come!

 

[Superhuskies]

Would he....technically.... still have until today May 29, 1159pm ET,...to...change...his....mind...????????

 

[UCTitleTown]

He's the veteran we need to link the championships to the 2024/25 season. I figured today he'd be back when I saw the Nova kid coming back.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I have a hard time imagining Nowell playing 10mpg.

And I am not sold on Mahaney’s 30 minutes either

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Smiling happy Olga

 

[temery]

Can we get an updated chart?

Ok, this is the most recent monthly chart of my BP.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Alex is Hurley's coach on the floor. He will be critical teaching the youngsters the system. We just accelerated their learning curve.

This is a legitimately underrated benefit of him coming back, especially when you consider that besides Karaban, Diarra, and Johnson, most of our top 9 should be returning for the following year.

 

[temery]

Alex will have to beat out Stewart and McNeally, two very talented players, for minutes. I hope he made the right decision. Danny will play the best players.

Zero chance Alex won't be a starter.

 

[mets1090]

It’s perfectly possible to play 9 guys a material role.

Yeah, slice it up however you want.160 minutes divided 7 ways in the 1-4 spots. ~23 minutes each. A couple will inevitably only get 10-15, rest will get 25-30 on any given night depending on match ups/fouls/performance. And of course things are likely to tighten up and slant towards the best guys down the stretch.

Main limitation, if you could even call it that, is we are unlikely to see anyone besides probably AK average 32 minutes like they possibly could on a thinner team. But ask Mahaney if he'd rather play 33 minutes a game for a team that lost in the first round or 28 minutes on a title winner and it's easy to understand that it isn't difficult to get guys to buy into a 9 man rotation when you keep winning.

Only guy I feel for in this situation a little bit is Ross because I doubt he cracks the rotation in a meaningful way with AK back. I hope he can carve out a Stewart type role down the stretch and be primed to play real minutes as a junior though. Singare I think had to expect to not play much this year either, and Abraham as a freshman probably understands he's going to have to wait his turn. Would love if any of them were willing to redshirt, but that doesn't seem like it ever happens in college hoops.

 

[bjc42]

McNeeley and AK are going to be impossible for teams to prepare for.

and stewart

 

[mets1090]

Also this goes without saying but the notion that a Redshirt Junior Alex Karaban could possibly not start on this or any team is laughable.

 

[bendm]

I have a hard time imagining Nowell playing 10mpg.

I have a hard time imagining ball and stew only playing 20mpg too. It’s freakin awesome.

 

[UConnKev]

Twitter doesn’t disappoint

 

[oldude]

Great credit to AK for his thorough and comprehensive process in meeting and taking part in evaluations with so many different pro teams. I have to believe that at the end of the day he’s extremely comfortable with his decision to return to Storrs based on all of the input he sought out.

So many college players just roll the dice and hope for the best. AK did some serious research right down to the wire before making his decision.

 

[controlfade]

3 starters for 2 positions in Karaban, Stewart and McNeeley. Earned in practice between the latter two.

Think you will see those 3 on the court together quite a bit with either AK playing the 5 or McNeeley playing the 2.